In My Esteemed Opinion
by heidlebergchick
Summary: Challenge Fic: Prompt - Family Heirloom. The Malfoy family walking stick is about to be handed down to Draco and it thinks back on all it previous Masters, the Heads of the Malfoy Family.


**House:** Hufflepuff  
**Year:** First Year  
**Category:** Standard  
**Prompt:** [Object] - Family Heirloom  
**Word Count: **1991  
**Title:** In My Esteemed Opinion  
**Rating:** K  
**Beta(s):** Aya, Bailey  
**Warnings:** None

**In My Esteemed Opinion**

It is a well known fact that objects such as myself are quiet companions – without opinions of our own. We are to be used and discarded, but I am far from common. I may be a walking stick, but I have seen more in my lifetime than you, I daresay. You must think I am a rude walking stick, but I must correct you, for I am old and I have become quite blunt. But for those of you of open mind, I have a tale to tell. It is a tale I am most proud of, for a walking stick that is. My tale began three hundred years ago with Brutus Malfoy.

The day I was born was a very auspicious day. I was forged by the Goblins themselves with utmost care and precision. With great expertise, they mixed my core elements, vanadium with titanium over an intense flame. I was beaten and folded until my form began to take shape. As they moulded me with their magic, they wove protective charms into my body and gave me a purpose. I was to be the protector of my master, for I could now employ charms to defend him.

They forged me into the head of a snake. Some of you may think this is a common countenance, but I was formidable. My jaws and deadly looking fangs were poised to strike fear into the very souls of those who would look upon me. My emerald eyes would stare back and warn them. My masters were not to be trifled with, for I was wielded by a Lord among his peers, Lord Malfoy to be precise. Besides my defensive capabilities, there is also a space within me where my master can hide his wand. With that secret, I may truly protect my master, for he is never unarmed in my presence.

I was placed upon a handsome rod of black walnut, difficult to master for most. For those Lords unwilling to accept themselves and their limitations, they would have extreme difficulty wielding me because of this wood choice. For I seek only those masters who are particularly insightful, with honed instincts. Without these qualities, I fear I would have very little success protecting those who handle me, for my power wanes for them.

But thankfully, the Malfoy's, are not generally known for being ingenuous. These men, nay, these Lords are shrewd, powerful figures. For them, I can produce truly impressive results. The Malfoy's are skilled in placing themselves beside those who are influential and successful. They are true masters in their own rights. They think before they act, they consider each word carefully before they say it, and they always know exactly what to say to get the results they want. They truly represent the house they were sorted into well, for the colouring of my visage and eyes are a tribute to Salazar Slytherin himself.

Brutus Malfoy was a man who showed me many things. At the height of the magical community's persecution by Muggles, I was there by his side deflecting back their flimsy weapons. I saw carnage and death and magical blood spilled. True to his Malfoy name, he seized upon the most opportune opinion of the day and began to spout what would become known as fact. He believed due to the atrocities the Muggles committed they should be considered less than animals and avoided at all costs.

Similarly his son, Armand the Second, also put himself beside very influential people. Those were the days when I truly saw battle. When he befriended William the Conqueror, he secured the land to build the manor house that houses the Malfoy family to this day. His son, Nicolas, furthered that goal by eliminating any Muggles in the vicinity of the land in Wiltshire. The Muggles assumed they were simply unfortunate victims of the Black Death, but we in the family knew better. He was protecting his family by ensuring their ilk didn't affect those he loved most in the world. Honestly, it makes me chuckle every time a family member brings it up at dinner. Getting away with murder isn't something all of us can say we've done.

The next Malfoy, Lucius the First, decided to add insult to injury for the Muggles. Do not get me wrong when I say this, for he held no love for the pitiful creatures. He saw them as means of further income. The rumours about him attempting to woo the Muggle Queen, I can tell you honestly, are... completely unfounded. I do not think I could bear such thought, a Malfoy marrying a Muggle! Whatever would they say about us? I'd like to think those in my family had standards.

But enough about those miserable Muggles. Good riddance, I say to them and their kind, for my next Lord decided that the rumours about his father had put unnecessary scrutiny upon us. Septimus decided to focus his attentions on the Minister of Magic himself. Unctuous Osbert became little more than a puppet under Septimus's pretence as an advisor. His silver tongue sincerely helped his efforts, and soon the Malfoy's were once again known for putting themselves beside the influential. I couldn't have been more proud of him.

As time went on, I was once again passed down to the next head of our prestigious house. Abraxas followed in his father's footsteps and worked in the Ministry. His most accomplished achievement was a rather shady one, I will admit. But if a walking stick may have an opinion, I'd like to think what he did, he did for our society's betterment. There was no way the upper echelons of Pureblood society would ever listen to a Muggle-born Minister for Magic. While the socialites had a lot to say about the man—Nobby Leach, I believe his name was—none of those upstanding citizens stood up and did anything about it. It took a Malfoy to take care of the problem as usual. I was there when he did it, for I held Abraxas' wand. I watched the man's pitiful begging before he died, but my Master was swift in his execution of the idiotic man. While society stood up and lamented his death, the Malfoy's stood firm in their beliefs that they had paved the way for better men to step up and lead them. I'm proud to say I had a part to play.

What a rich and productive family I've had. It would bring tears to my eyes if I were capable of such a thing. I have witnessed the passing of time and the ragged effect it has had on my masters. I miss them sometimes and find myself thinking of them often. I enjoy when the family sit and speak of them. It honours the dead, keeps memories of them alive, and helps the family learn about their past in order to pave their future. Of course, some chose not to listen, and it nearly brought my family to ruins.

When I was passed to Lucius the Second, I was excited. If I could have trembled I would have, for he was a decidedly intelligent young man. He was going to change the way Malfoy's were spoken of. When he said he was going to join with a man and many of his peers to change our world, none of us were sure about him binding himself to another. But when his father voiced the concerns I could not, Lucius simply stated that it would always fall to a Malfoy to work from the shadows to bring about the necessary changes our world needed to carry on.

And so the shadow began to fall over our house and family name, though we did not know it at the time. Lucius joined the Dark Lord and committed shocking, despicable acts under his tutelage. I had seen battle and war, but depravity of this magnitude was going a little too far. My ominous feelings began to increase as Lucius fooled himself into believing what he was doing was for the benefit of his kind. A part of him closed himself off to help him deal with his opinions of his actions, but all it really did was drive a wedge between us. For the first time in over two hundred years, I failed to perform adequately for my Lord, and I was crushed by that sense of helplessness. There was nothing I could do, and it killed me.

When the Dark Lord fell, things returned to normal between us and Lucius reformed his life and imitated his father and grandfather. For now it was he pulling the strings behind a Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. I had hope ripped from me. When it became time for the Dark Lord to rise again, it shocked both of us. Lucius had no choice but to welcome the monstrosity of a wizard into his home. There was no walking away from the servitude this creature demanded, and I could only hope I would not lose a master to such ill fate. Being forced to play the role of the puppet and not the puppet-master almost killed Lucius. For a Malfoy bows to no one.

The worst day of my life happened in our very house. Terrified by the thought of being bested by a boy, this Dark Lord, demanded my master's wand. It was almost criminal, I say! To ask a wizard to part with a piece of himself? If I had but been imbued with more than defensive charms, I would dearly loved to have cursed the Dark Lord that day. But sadly, he was not the one that would come out of that day worse off. I was snapped in two like a common twig and what was left of me was thrown at my humiliated master. I had never experienced more excruciating pain or shame in my life. Not even the flames in the Goblin forge could compare to the feeling of agony I felt that day.

From that moment on, I knew no more. I was placed in storage until what remained of me could be restored to my body. For those of you who have never experienced the surreal feeling of being decapitated, I would simply tell you it is most unpleasant. I think that Gryffindor ghost is lucky to have what little scraps of flesh he has holding himself together. For the two years I lay in that box, I would have given anything to see daylight and know the state of the rest of my body. My prayers were answered when the beautiful Lady of the House took pity on my poor broken form. She took me to an expert in these conditions and had me restored to my former glory. Oh how I wanted to hug that resplendent woman there and then. When she smiled at me afterwards, I knew the treatment had worked. I could breathe again.

She took me home, and I finally found out what had become of my family. I was saddened to hear that our name had lost much of its standing, but I was pleased to know that my dear Lucius had survived and that his legacy would live on in Draco. I will be sad to leave Lucius, but I fear it is for the best. I am intrigued as to what kind of master Draco will be. Will he follow in the footsteps of his forefathers and control ministers behind the scenes, or will he become the silent bane of Muggle existence from the shadows? I fear not, for Draco is a changed man. I fear this war has taken a toll on him, but I do not believe he will fail. I think he has what it takes to lead our family back to its proper standing. I have no doubt it will be a most interesting journey.


End file.
